The release of volume one of this light novel dates back to April 2009. This legendary novel made an appearance with browsing numbers exceeding 6.5 million page views recorded at the personal website of author Reki Kawahara. So why has it gained so much popularity?

Sword Art Online sets in the year 2022. The story follows male protagonist Kirito, who entered an online virtual realistic role-playing game and how he was informed that he was trapped in the game along with ten thousand other players from the real world. They were also told that death in the game meant death in the real world. As the story progresses, Kirito faced more challenges and battled with stronger opponents. The story gets even more interesting when Kirito encountered a beautiful young lady in the game, and was set to travel with her. The interactions between characters could keep readers guessing what could happen next and how each character would end up.

The setting of the story is convincing because of the detailed provided by the author. Unlike watching an anime, readers could also understand the motives of the characters better by knowing what the character is actually thinking and how the characters came to make their decisions.

Aside from the story, Sword Art Online provides visually stunning graphics done by abec. The artist makes use of neon colours to enrich the readers experience of entering this futuristic fantasy world. Character design is another strength of Sword Art Online. The character are easily likeable and are believable in general.

Sword Art Online is mainly targeted at teenage boys (shounen), however, its exceptional originality could appeal to a much wider range of audience.

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys any works of science fiction and or fantasy. Anyone with sensible imagination would also enjoy this!

Credit to NWAnime.com